Birds vs Smugglers 3 Countdown to war
by Spirit of Azure
Summary: Welcome to the third story in the Birds vs. Smugglers series, where our characters both cannon and OC's go to large cities around the world like Vancouver, Minnesota and London.
1. Chapter 1 Welcome to Vancouver

AN: I've never been really patient about writing, so here it is, Birds vs. Smugglers 3! Reviews are appreciated as always.

Chapter 1 – Welcome to Vancouver

**Fernando**

"Passengers, we are now in Canadian airspace, and we'll be landing in ten minutes, please fasten your seat belts."

"Wow, they're talking like this is a commercial flight. *Yawn*" Weston said, stretching.

"Mom, dad, when do we go back to Rio?" I asked.

"Well, Fernando, whenever the governments figure things out, if not, there will be war." Tulio said sadly.

Linda nudged Tulio and gave him an angry glare.

"War? Oh no!" I said and looked to my right. Dennis was still sleeping. "Hey, dude!"

"Huh? Wha? Are we there yet?" He asked.

"We're flying over Canada now."

"Ah, I'm finally home." Dennis said and stretched. "UGH!"

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, that fall hurt me real bad."

**Blu**

"So, how close is this Vancouver place to Mini-soda?" Jewel asked.

"It's about two- thousand meters- kilometres- miles- yeah, miles away."

"You're still clumsy with words. And I love you for that."

"He he-"

"Ugh! Can you keep it down over there? Hey, it's morning already?" Max asked.

"Can't you tell by the light through the window?" Uzzi barked, smiling.

"Right." The peregrine falcon chirped.

"Looks like you're awake, that's good, 'cause were landing pretty soon." Dennis said, and sure enough, we felt the plane descend. After two more minutes or so, the plane started shaking hard, through the window, me and Jewel saw the plane was very close to the ground, and the tires screeched as they touched the ground.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Vancouver. Please remain seated until the seat belt light goes off, and exit at the front of the plane, thank you and we hope you enjoyed your flight."

"Seat belt light?" Bell wondered, then saw the light in the front of the cabin. "Why would they- There will always be things I won't understand."

After a minute or two, the seat belt indicator light went off and we went to the front of the plane. A soldier showed us the way down. Dennis and Fernando stormed down the stairs and went to the back.

**Dennis**

"Come on, come on door, open!" I said.

It seemed to me like hours before the door opened, when it did, a dark blue Toyota Prius rolled out the back.

"There we are!" I said and ran to the car.

"Come on!" I told everyone.

The Monteiro family, the birds and Uzzi climbed inside.

"Um... Captain, I think there's a problem here." Johnson said.

"Right, you guys take the skytrain or a taxi, you know the address. See ya!"

"What? Wait!" Bell shouted.

It was too late, I had already pressed the throttle to the floor, 'pedal to the medal' as one would call it, and raced through the airport, getting on the road. I could hear Linda and Tulio screaming until I slowed down, I didn't want to cause an accident.

******Thirty minutes later******

I pressed the garage door remote and drove inside. Fernando looked through the right window.

"Whoa! THAT IS A LOT OF AIRSOFT!"

"I knew you'd like it. Now, follow me, I'll show you some of my friends." I said. "Pick your weapon."

**Weston**

Waiting in the station, I couldn't help but notice several pairs of eyes staring at us, I guess it was uncommon to see armed soldiers in Canada, not that it was any different in the States...

"Hey, mommy, look, soldier person!" A girl shouted.

"Yes, honey, the nice soldiers protect our country! Now come on, we need to get our tickets." The girl's mother said.

"You think that was cute?" Bell whispered to me.

"Uh-huh. I still can't believe captain ditched us."

"Yeah... You ever wonder why it's called skytrain?"

"Well, it's a train suspended above the ground. Right, Johnson, Doc?"

"I think it's because an idiot thought that he was flying inside the train." Doc said with an emotionless face.

"Really? I thought you were the smart one." Johnson said.

"Just a thought."

"Train's here." Bell said.

"I think I see SWAT in there." I said. "Oh s*** no, they're here for us, we can't get captured, do not use lethal force unless absolutely necessary."

"POLICE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

"No! Put YOUR hands up!" Bell shouted.

"Shooting a medic is a war crime!" Doc shouted.

"What?" I asked.

"Just a precaution."

"Hey, WE'RE the police here, not you!"

"Yeah? Why are you here? We're on the same side!" Bell asked, pointing a finger at the SWAT officer.

The SWAT pulled up his shotgun and used the taser on him. I immediately reacted and used my stock to butt the officer in the face. Bell recovered and helped me push the SWAT officers back into the train.

"Station, we're overpowered by four men, we need the army over here!" One officer shouted into his radio.

"Good, see if they'll shoot their own allies!" I shouted.

The mother with the little girl soon walked back into the station.

"Ma'am! Stay back!" An officer shouted before being pushed to the floor by Johnson.

"Mommy! Those mean people in black are hurting the nice army men!"

I smirked at the SWAT Sargent, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter, you are openly carrying a weapon and resisting arrest."

Tires screeched outside, and loud footsteps were heard.

"Weston?" A familiar voice said.

"Sargent Nelson?" I said, releasing the officer I was about to punch. looking at the Canadian soldier.

"Captain, now, but... Weren't you in Brazil with your new team?" He asked.

"We're on a mission and these... Officers stopped us."

"They broke two laws!"

"I'm pretty sure you're mistaken about one of them."

"Yes, we're authorized to carry weapons and use lethal force if the last two Spix's macaws are endangered." I said.

"Oh yeah? By who?"

"Let me think... The EPA, NATO and if you don't listen to those... Your government."

"That's... Fine, stand down."

"And what are you doing taking the sky train? Come on, I'll give you a tour of a city and send you to wherever you need to be."

"All right, thanks."

**Dennis**

I pressed the doorbell on Shawn's house. Shawn was my best friend before I went to Rio, we used to play airsoft and video games every day, hell, we'd do everything together.

"Hello?" Shawn said, poking his head through the door crack.

"Grab your weapons, ammo and gear, it's airsoft time."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Weston**

"So, did you finally get that promotion?" Nelson asked.

"Sort of... But not really." I said.

"How comes?"

"I do get the extra pay as a Captain, but I don't really get to tell people what to do anymore."

"But... You're a Captain!"

"I'm a Captain doing a lieutenant's job."

"I'll... Figure it out later. How are you liking this city so far?"

"Well, it's the only one that dares to try to arrest us."

"I guess so. First we're going to Stanley park, it's one of the best parks in Vancouver."

**Rosemary heights**

"How are you doing back there, Dennis?" Shawn asked through his radio, taking cover behind a house.

"I don't see anyone from red... Oh crap!"

Sierra rolled onto his back, barely dodging the 6mm BB which hit the asphalt. Nick fired a few more shots from his M9 and pulled out his Thompson. Sierra barely had time to get his F2000 and took cover behind a staircase.

"That's a lot of ammo you got there." Sierra shouted.

"Drum mags do wonders."

Sierra plucked a grenade from his belt and set the timer to four seconds, and tossed it in Nick's direction. A shower of BB's hit Nick.

"Damn it!"

"You got me on the ropes there though."

"But still, I had you." Nick said, going away to the other side.

Sierra went back to his RSASS sniper rifle, staring down the road. This time, he saw two reds charging up the street.

"Shawn, Fernando, you got company coming up the street."

"We got 'em." Shawn said, cocking his M249 with a red dot sight.

Fernando did the same with his Galil, and fired at the two reds. Fernando hit one red's arm, and Shawn hit one in the chest. The two reds took cover behind a house.

"Try to flush them out with a grenade." Fernando said.

Shawn took out a grenade and pulled the pin, throwing it at the reds. The reds sprinted away from the grenade, only to be met with sniper and rifle fire.

"Round win! Great job, guys." Sierra said.

The blue team walked over to the red team.

"It's nice to see you all again." Sierra said.

"Yeah, your vacation to Rio took a long time." Annie, a girl with red hair said.

"Huh, I don't go to school anymore, so I have lots of free time."

"Remind me how you get your education again?" Gordon, Annie's twin brother asked.

"It's an experimental program, where you learn by listening to some person talking in an iPod."

"Riiiiiight. You're sure you're not skipping school?" Shawn asked.

"Of course I'm not skipping! I get good grades, why the hell would I throw it away?"

"True."

"My house, come on! Oh... Right, if you've been wondering, this is Fernando, my... Step brother." Dennis said.

**Weston**

After touring around Stanley park, Nelson drove us to a McDonald's for lunch.

"So, what do you guys want?" Nelson asked.

"I'll take a big mac." I said, looking back at Bell, Johnson and Doc.

"I'll take... A filet o' fish."

"Still going with vegetarian?"

"No, I just don't like the burgers from McDonald's."

"What about you guys?" I asked Bell and Johnson.

"I've never been to a McDonald's before." Bell said. "Neither has Johnson."

"I say we give them cheeseburgers." Nelson said.

"Fine with me."

**Fernando**

Going back inside the garage, I was still amazed at how many airsoft pieces Dennis has, there were close to a hundred guns of all types hung on the walls, and there were even more magazines for each of them, especially STANAG box magazines and AK box magazines, every piece sparkled, indicating they were polished. Everyone put their gear inside a box in the corner of the garage, so it doesn't get mixed up with Dennis's gear.

"Where are we going?" Nick asked.

"Where we usually go after a good airsoft fight. To the great PlayStation!"

We went upstairs, Linda and Tulio watched a movie with the birds and Uzzi, Max saw us and landed on Dennis's shoulder.

"Hey, Max!"

Max chirped.

"Hey, you got a bird?" Gordon asked.

"And a wolf."

"A wolf?" All three of Dennis's friends shouted in surprise.

"Yup."

"You aren't afraid he's going to eat you?" Annie asked.

"He's tamed and will only attack when I tell him to."

"So he's an attack wolf?" Nick asked.

"Basically. He's a pet too."

"You got some weird family... Speaking of your family, we've never even seen them." Annie said.

"Well there they are." Dennis said, pointing to Linda and Tulio.

"Oh... All right." Annie said.

We went into a room with two large TV's and two PlayStations hooked up. Dennis walked up to each one and pressed the start buttons.

"Let's kill some noobs."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

******Three hours later******

**Sierra**

Two hours of zombie-killing and noob pawning later, we were watching the movie Mission impossible: ghost protocol. Nick, Gordon, Shawn and Fernando wanted to watch it, while I had already watched it, and Annie had no preference.

"Cap! We're back!" Weston shouted.

My heart sank. What was I going to tell my friends? That I was lying to them for a good cause? I cussed in my mind.

"Cap?" Gordon asked.

I said nothing and waited. Weston, Bell, Doc and Johnson walked inside, Weston raised an eyebrow when he saw six camouflaged kids sitting on the sofa.

"You brought friends?" He asked, smiling.

Annie, Gordon, Shawn and Nick sat with wide eyes.

"We are not Russians, if that's what you're thinking." Gordon said.

Annie punched Gordon.

"What?"

"That's racist!"

"*Sigh* Guys, they're my buddies."

"Oh good." Shawn said. "Wait... Buddies?"

"Yes... There's a lot of things you guys don't know. I'll tell you if you want to know."

"Sure." Shawn said.

"All right." Annie and Gordon said.

"No. Definitely not." Nick said.

"Why the hell not?" Gordon asked.

"What if he kills us after, if we don't really know him, he could be a cold blooded killer!"

"Don't worry, I won't kill you." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You've never told your friends?" Bell asked.

"Nope .avi. I am Captain Dennis Sierra, commanding officer of Azure ops. I've been in Afghanistan and was transferred to Rio for the last two spix's macaws. You just missed them, they went to wal-mart with my "parents"." I said, making quotation marks with my fingers.

"I don't believe you." Shawn said.

"Me neither." Gordon said.

"I believe you." Nick said.

"If you don't believe me, follow me." I said.

Everyone including my team followed. I lead them downstairs into the basement, knelt down into a corner and felt the ground, pressing a round button when I felt it. A small hatch opened and I went down the stairs. Several florescent lights lit up the hallway as it led us into a large underground room.

"This is the survival bunker, designed to protect inhabitants from a nuke. I don't think you have one under your house." I said.

The four shook their heads. I went up to one of several shelves holding weapons (all of the weapons are bullpups and ambidextrous) and picked up my F2000.

"Believe me now?"

The four nodded.

"Do you hate me now?"

"D-Depends." Nick said.

"On what?" I asked.

"Would you kill us?"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, NO!"

"Well, no then. You didn't have to yell."

I did a face- palm as Max did the same with his wing.

"Let's go back upstairs." I said.

******Thirty minutes later******

Linda, Tulio, Blu and Jewel were back from shopping for food. Nick, Gordon, Annie and Shawn left minutes ago to do whatever they have to do.

"Hi, mom, hi, dad!" Fernando greeted.

"Hey, Fernando!" Tulio said. "We bought Cheetos!"

"Mmm, Cheetos."

"Captain! The toilet's clogged!" Weston shouted.

"Help him out, Max." I said, rolling my eyes.

**Max**

Believe it or not, I almost expected this to happen. Weston does things like this, and it's always me who fixes it. I flew inside, and landed perfectly on the water tap. Weston got the hydraulic plunger and put it in the toilet. I chirped, motioning for him to secure it, not wanting to be sprayed with toilet water. Weston pushed down harder and pressed the trigger. He took it out and flushed.

"It works!" He said and started fiddling with the plunger.

"NO NO NO!" I screeched as Weston was about to throw the plunger in the air.

I was too late, the plunger was already in the air, it hit the ceiling and sprayed me with blue liquid.

"Oops."

"%*^%$#))_^&!" I screeched at him.

"Sorry..."

"YOU! YOU... YOU PLUNGER SUCKER!" I screeched again.

"Come on, it was an accident!"

I waddled into the living room.

Jewel laughed at me, the blue liquid that covered me kept dripping onto the carpet.

"It's not funny, now I have to take a shower."

"How? The human shower is too big for you!"

"That's why I use the sink, now, don't you or Blu dare come into the kitchen."

"It's not like we want to watch or something." She squawked, laughing harder.

**Jewel**

As mean as it sounds, it was funnier than watching Blu slip on a grape skin three times in a row, it's not everyday that you see a peregrine falcon with plunger fluid covering him. We sat there, watching TV. I remembered Blu telling me how they work. We watched a cartoon about a yellow sponge, everything seemed to go right for him, while the opposite happened to a grey squid, and they were both employed by a psychopathic red crab who would kill himself and others for one dollar. I can't imagine who would make such a show for children.

"You got ooone life, oooone life, don't stop, don't stop giving now!" A voice came from the kitchen.

"Is that... Max?" I asked.

"Sounds like it..." Blu said.

"He... Sings in the shower?" I said, holding in a laugh.

"At least he sings it well. You don't want to hear me sing the theme of all dogs go to heaven."

"Okay, I didn't need to hear that." I said.

"Yeah, sorry." Uzzi said.

"It's all right."

"So, Jewel... What do you think of the north so far?" Blu asked.

"It's fine, just a little cold and... Jungle-less." I answered.

"Right."

"But I like it, it can be too hot in Rio sometimes. I think I'm going to enjoy this trip, no poachers here."

"You could be wrong about that last part."

I smiled and rested my head on Blu's shoulder.

"Who cares? As long as I'm with you, everything will be all right."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Max**

Raindrops splattered on the road outside. The sounds of cars' tires going through the wet asphalt woke me up. I hated rainy days, so did Dennis. Taking a look at the clock, it was 9:30 am, sounds of gunfire, explosions and airstrikes could be heard in the entertainment room.

'Up already?' I thought. I just noticed that Blu and Jewel's cage was empty, Uzzi's carrier too.

I flapped my wings and went through a hallway, going down the stairs. A loud explosion came from the media room, I couldn't tell if the ringing was the sound effects or if it was my earholes receiving damage. I went inside and saw Azure and Fernando playing Battlefield 3 on multiplayer, and they were practically destroying the map with tanks, APC's, TOW missiles and C4. Blu and Jewel watched, perched on a lamp.

"Hey, Max!" Jewel greeted.

"Morning." I chirped and perched beside Blu. "This is the one thing that they are competitive about besides marksmanship. So how's Jewel... You know, with the egg?"

"She's fine, but she is eating quite a bit."

"Hey, are you calling me fat? How about I get Tulio to put this egg inside your belly?" Jewel squawked loudly.

"No, no! Definitely not! I was only comparing, you know before and after? Oh, stupid, stupid..." Blu knocked his beak with his talon.

"It's okay, Blu... I just... Freaked out for a moment." Jewel squawked softly.

"I would never call you fat, Jewel, you're the most beautiful bird I've ever seen and I love you, and I'll never leave you." Blu squawked.

Blu was about to say something else, but Jewel plugged his beak with hers, pulling him into a passionate kiss. I stayed quiet, not wanting to ruin the moment.

****** Three hours later ******

"Are we there yet?" Fernando asked for the umpteenth time, I could see that it was driving Dennis insane.

"NO! WE ARE NOT FOKKERING THERE YET AND WE WON'T BE FOR TEN MINUTES OR SO!" Dennis shouted. That stunned everyone inside the Prius, except Fernando.

"So I can say that again in ten minutes?"

"That's it." Dennis said and put the car to drive.

The car lurched forward, and weaved through several other cars, causing a large amount of honking. Dennis turned the wheel to the right and went into the HOV lane, stopping three semi trucks in the process, and used the parking brake to swing the back of the car in place, and stepped on the throttle again.

"Happy now?" Dennis asked, driving normally now.

Fernando didn't respond. I went to Blu and Jewel, who were sitting on the cup holder.

"You guys all right?"

"Yeah, but that was three semi trucks!" Blu squawked.

"And come on, what about our egg?" Jewel squawked.

"I know, but I trust his driving skills, hey, did the Humvee keep up?" I asked.

"I don't know..." Blu answered.

****** THREE MINUTES later ******

"And here we are, one of the most beautiful places and parks in Vancouver." Dennis said.

The air was fresh from the rainfall two hours ago, now the sun shined, warming up the area.

"Wow, it is beautiful, what a view!" Tulio said, admiring the lion's gate bridge, taking a picture with his Nikon digital camera.

"This is as beautiful as Rio! ...Not that I would live here for the rest of my life." Jewel squawked in awe.

"It's too cold here, anyway." Blu said.

"Hey, there's the rest of the guys!" Fernando shouted.

"Please tell me you didn't use the machine gun." Dennis said to Weston.

"There was a hobo environmentalist who stopped us, we tried explaining this thing is a hybrid and that we were protecting Blu and Jewel... But... He started blocking us and shouting "THE ARMY IS OUR KILLER! THE ARMY IS OUR KILLER!" I had get Johnson to point the thing at him." Weston said.

"Did you have to open fire?"

"Nope, the guy dropped everything and ran. I respect environmentalists but that guy just wasn't one."

"Right, where do you guys want to go first?"

"I say we go to the top of the mountain." Linda said.

In a few minutes, we were at the top. We could see the beach at the other side, people were either tanning, swimming or playing volleyball. Downtown Vancouver could be seen, the skyscrapers glistering in the sunlight. Some people were staring at Dennis and Linda, since they had me and the macaws on their shoulders.

"Too bad it's summer, if it was winter, we could go up to Whistler and go skiing." Dennis said. "Why don't you three go fly around and come back, we'll be in the restaurant."

Me, Blu and Jewel nodded and flew off. Uzzi watched us with a sad face.

"Hey, watch this!" I screeched. Blu and Jewel hovered and watched.

I flew up until the people on the mountain looked as big as mice. I folded my wings a bit and began my stoop. Several birds scattered from my trajectory, obviously thinking I was going to eat them. About ten meters from the ground, I spread my wings and flew up to Blu and Jewel, a smile on my face.

"How was that?" I asked.

"Pretty cool." Jewel said.

"Awesome! If only I could do that." Blu said.

"Well, I guess you could, but just slower." I said. "Come on, let's see the beach on the other side."

Blu and Jewel nodded and flew ahead. I flapped my wings and followed.

The rest of the day was spent touring through the city. Azure, the Monteiro family and the macaws all had a good time, which was evident in their gleeful smiles. Too bad we are leaving for Minnesota tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5 Goodbye Canada

Chapter 5 Goodbye Canada

**Sierra**

I woke up at seven, still bedraggled and tired. I crouched at the side of my bed and punched in the combination of my gun safe, or at least one of my gun safes. I pulled out my rifle, sniper rifle, and duel machine pistols and walked into the kitchen, and turned on the coffee maker. I don't usually drink coffee, but it's times like this that I really need it. The airport is dangerous, especially for small animals like Blu and Jewel, I have to keep my awareness level high. Footsteps were heard on the staircase and Weston came down, in the same state that I am. He walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a bag of coffee beans, and ate a handful.

"Really? Can't you just wait for the coffee to be ready?" I asked.

"Well, I was on the verge of collapsing there." Weston said. "Oh and... There's something I wanna say. Why are we protecting Blu and Jewel? I mean, I take them as family and all, but why is command treating them like the president? Why are we protecting them? Shouldn't the army be enough?"

"They aren't just the last two spix's macaws, they are also an important tool to take down poachers. The poachers want Blu and Jewel, they ARE worth millions. We're not just protecting them, we are also getting info on poachers trying to get them, so we can take them down." I said.

"Wow, I'm dumb for not figuring that out before." Weston said.

**Blu**

I opened my eyes slowly, Jewel was sleeping soundly, snuggling in my chest feathers. I slowly moved away from her, being careful not to wake her up. Within a minute I was up, I opened the cage and walked to the edge of the table, I looked back at Jewel and smiled.

'She's so beautiful when she's sleeping.'

I took another step and was surprised that there was nothing under my foot. My eyes widened as I went over the edge.

"Oh cra- OOF!" I said as I fell on my face. At least I fell on the bed. Linda, Tulio and Max were still sleeping, I flapped my wings and flew downstairs.

Dennis and Weston were there, doing something on their computers.

"Follow me, I have the gold." Weston said.

"I can't, this heavy has me pinned! Keep going!" Dennis said.

I flew over and got on Weston's shoulder.

"Hey, Blu!" Weston said.

"Morning!" I squawked.

Weston is playing on Team Fortress 2, so was Dennis. We are supposed to leave in two hours, so what better to do than to play with them?

******Two hours later******

**Sierra**

I got behind the wheel of my Prius, the Monteiro family, the birds and Uzzi are on board. I put the electronic key to the start button and pushed it. A few soft beeps were heard.

"Fernando, in Canada, you wear seat belts." I said.

"Oh, right." Fernando said as he put on his seat belt.

The beeping ceased and I pressed the gas pedal lightly. The electric motor made no noise as it propelled the car onto the road. I pressed harder and the car's gasoline engine started, the noise of the turbocharger made me smile. Many would criticize turbocharging a Prius, but I think it's a good idea, it saves fuel and gives more power to the engine, so why not?

"Before you start asking if we're there yet, we should be there within an hour, unless there's an accident somewhere." I said.

"Okay!" Fernando said, trying to mimic the derp face.

I eyed him and took the ramp onto highway-99. Stepping on the gas, I pressed 'play' on the stereo.

_**Well, life's like a road that you travel on**_

_**There's one day here and the next day gone**_

_**Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand**_

_**Sometimes you turn your back to the wind**_

_**There's a world outside every darkened door**_

_**Where Blues won't haunt you anymore**_

_**For the brave are free and lovers soar**_

_**Come ride with me to the distant shore**_

_**We won't hesitate**_

_**To break down the guarding gate**_

_**There's not much time left today, yeay**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long**_

_**If you're going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

_**Through all these cities and all these towns**_

_**It's in my blood and it's all around**_

_**I love now like I loved you then**_

_**This is the road and these are the hands**_

_**From Mozambique to those Memphis nights**_

_**The Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights**_

_**They knock me down**_

_**And back up again**_

_**You're in my blood**_

_**I'm not a lonely man**_

_**There's no load I can't hold**_

_**The road's so rough this I know**_

_**I'll be there when the light comes in**_

_**Just tell 'em we're survivors**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long**_

_**If your going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

_**Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, yeah**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long (mmmm yeah)**_

_**If your going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

_**There was a distance between you and I**_

_**(between you and I)**_

_**A misunderstanding once**_

_**But now, we look it in the eye**_

_**Ooooo...Yeah!**_

_**There ain't no load that I can't hold**_

_**The road's so rough this I know**_

_**I'll be there when the light comes in**_

_**Just tell 'em we're survivors**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long (all night long, yeah hey)**_

_**If your going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long**_

_**If your going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

_**Life is a highway, I wanna ride it**_

_**All night long**_

_**If your going my way, I wanna drive it**_

_**All night long**_

****** Fourty minutes later ******

Here we are again, after three days in my home, we're leaving again... We did get lots of eyes on us since we were carrying our usual gear, but at least no one decided to stop us. I couldn't help but notice a man wearing a grey trench suit, I could often see him in the corner of my vision, but I didn't think he was enough of a threat to track him on my cross-comms.

"Hey, this way, I wanna buy some water." I said and turned right into a 7-11 store. I grabbed a bottle of Dasani and went to the counter.

"One dollar and fifty-six cents, please." The woman at the counter said.

I searched my pockets and stopped when I felt a bill, but when I looked at it, I frowned.

"Do you take Brazilian?"

"Sorry, sir, only Canadian and American dollars."

I let my head droop and walked out.

"Let's just go, I'll get some American money for Minnesota." I said.

"Someone doesn't plan ahead." Tulio said with a smile.

"Right, but if you went one more step ahead, you would remind me."

"I got some if you want." Fernando said, smiling.

"No, thanks, keep it for yourself."

****** Five minutes later on the plane ******

**Jewel**

"Hey, Blu, what are dollars?" I asked.

"It's money."

"What's money?"

"Well, it's pretty pieces of paper and metal that humans work for, and use it for currency."

"Currency?"

"Like... Err... Max?"

"Something to trade with, like bottle caps."

"Bottle caps?" I asked, more confused now.

"Don't you use them to buy things in the wild?"

"No." I said.

"Okay, think about it this way, if bottle caps were currency, even though they might not be, you work for it. And after you get it, you can trade it for a lot of things, after that, the person that traded you the fruit for your bottle cap can use that to trade for other things, thus starting a cycle. Get it?" Max said.

I thought about it and then nodded.

"Thanks, Max." Blu said.

"No prob'."

**Sierra**

I looked everywhere for water, and found a bottle of Whistler glacial spring water, I took my knife and sliced the top of the cap clean off, and downed the whole bottle. The man in the trenchcoat back in the airport unsettled me, he could be after Blu and Jewel. Maybe being in North America doesn't mean we're safe after all.


	6. Chapter 6 Separated

Chapter 6 Separated

****** Two days later, Blu macaw books, Moose lake, Minnesota 1 PM ******

**Blu**

Jewel watched me play inside the cage, I was playing with everything, the swing, the bell, and looking through the mirror.

"No place like home?" She asked, grinning.

"Yes!" I said, facing her while hanging upside-down.

"What's so good about the cage though? Cages limit your freedom, and these toys couldn't have kept you entertained for... How many years?"

"Fifteen."

"Right. Fifteen years."

"I do have other things to do." I said.

"Like what?"

"You know what books are, right?"

"Yes... So you read every day?"

"Yes, in fact, I used to finish a book every three days or so. Those were good times."

"Don't you ever get bored?"

"Bored?! Reading is... It's the fountain of knowledge, the key to the future, the-"

"All right! I get it. Now what do you suggest we do?" Jewel asked.

"Now, my love? We read."

Jewel did a face-wing.

"This is going to be a long day for me."

"Not if you learn to enjoy reading."

"Fine... But only until everyone comes back."

"Then we can go somewhere fun."

"Somewhere without books?"

"Well, somewhere that doesn't revolve around books... But I can almost guarantee that there will be a few books, books are everywhere, you know?"

"Uhh... All right." Jewel said with a confused face.

"So... What do you wanna read about?" I asked.

"Are there any books on us?"

"Actually, yes. We have lots of books on macaws. I just have to find the animals section..."

I took off and circled inside the room. After a minute or so, I went back to Jewel carrying two books.

"Do's and Don'ts: Macaws as pets, Parrot owner's breeding guide?" Jewel asked. "Is this it?"

"No, I just randomly picked them and... I'll take you to the shelf." I said, embarrased.

We flew to the shelf I was at before, different coloured books sat organized in the shelves.

"Here we are..." I said.

"That's better. Oh, this one looks good." Jewel said. "Macaws in the wild. What are you going to read?"

"I'll read with you. The books here are the ones left over from before I went to Rio, so I've read them all already."

"Book worm."

I was stunned by Jewel's remark, stunned and somewhat hurt. Jewel looked at me with a smile and seemed to notice.

"I was just kidding! Come on, read with me."

The next thirty minutes were spent reading and talking about our future children. I wonder how they'll look? Or if they'll be little devils like Rafael's? However they turn out, they'll still be our kids, and we will love and care for them properly. Then we fell asleep for god knows how long, then we woke up hearing the alarm beep, indicating that a door to the outside was opened.

"Blu! Jewel! We're back! We brought food!" Fernando shouted cheerfully.

"Finally. For once in my life I'm hungry." I said.

"Yeah, well try feeding yourself plus three chicks." Jewel said.

"Right, sorry."

"Don't be sorry! Let's go eat."

****** Half an hour later ******

It was the second time I had seen Jewel stuff her face with fruits, the first time was with Rafael in the fruit stands, but it was still very strange. The day ended with everyone crowding at the TV, watching the London Olympics. Dennis and Johnson got frustrated a few times watching the Canadian team, I would get frustrated too, if I were in their shoes. But everyone else were very happy with how the games were going.

****** Outside Blu macaw books, 0 hours ******

A black '79 Chevy van stopped at the side of the road without it's lights on. The back doors opened and two black figures walked out. One man used a large laser to cut the glass window and the other caught the glass before it hit the ground. The two men moved inside and sneaked upstairs. Looking around, one man pointed at a corner of the living room, he saw Blu's cage. One of the men took the cage and went to the staircase. They had only a few meters to go before Uzzi yelped. Uzzi turned around and growled at the two men.

"Nice doggy..."

"INTRUDERS!" Uzzi barked, waking Blu, Jewel and Max.

"Oh crap." One man said.

"Blu! Jewel! Get out of the cage!" Max shouted.

Uzzi kept growling and kept the men away from the staircase. Jewel scrambled up to the top of the cage while Blu worked on the door. One of the Men saw this and pushed Blu back inside, but also opened the door. Jewel bit the finger of the man holding the cage, causing the cage to fall and roll down the stairs. Jewel was thrown out of the cage when it rolled, but Blu was locked inside.

"Take the cage! Let's go!"

The men jumped over Uzzi and picked up the cage. Sierra came out of his room, fully armed and ran downstairs with Uzzi.

"What the hell is going on?! STOP!" He shouted.

The men didn't, and Sierra fired a few shots at their legs, fearing he'd shoot Blu. One man fell to the ground as Uzzi bit his leg, but the man in the cage limped into the van.

"BLU!" Jewel shouted, and was about to take flight when she remembered the eggs inside her body. She couldn't risk her kids. In any other situation, she would have plunged into the action to save her mate, but she couldn't risk it this time. "No..."

Max landed on the van, getting his USP.45 from his belt and shot the top of the van, then took off his GPS tracker and planted it on the van. The van started and Sierra dove and gripped on the handles of the back doors as the van drove off. Sierra's feet were dragging on the asphalt and he fought to hold on. Max landed on the left handle as Sierra moved his left hand to the right. Max opened the door and was pushed back by the wind. Sierra climbed into the van, but another, more muscular man was waiting in the back seat, and punched Sierra in the face, and would've knocked him out if Sierra didn't wear his helmet. Sierra pulled out his G18 and fired, but only grazed the man as he wrenched the gun away from his chest. The man opened the side door and was about to throw Sierra out, but Sierra used the ballistic knife in his glove to stab the man in the knee, causing him to lose his balance and fall out of the van, pulling Sierra out with him, and was killed by hitting a lamp post with his head. The van left for the airport... With Blu.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Sierra**

We had just landed in London. Linda, Tulio, Fernando and Jewel are back in the bookstore, which was guarded by a squad of US army soldiers. We were able to find out which plane the thief took and found the destination was London. We sat in our hotel room, the others were chatting about various things while I sat in front of my computer, thinking about tactics that would be most effective against our enemy and how I will make them regret they ever thought about taking one of my friends.

****** The next day, 10:00 AM ******

We just had a meeting with some troops from the Special Air Service that are going to help us out. Bell brought us to his old squad on an airfield. They would be perfect for helping us rescue Blu.

"Alistair! Is that you?" A man with an English accent said.

"Yes! It's good to see you, Danny! How are the boys doing?"

"Which boys? The squad or my kids?"

"Your... Kids?"

"Yes, haven't I told you?"

"No, actually."

"It's been a long time... Three years. What brings you back here? You didn't mention in the call."

"You need to meet my new team." Bell said and motioned to us.

"You mean the yanks you've been talking about?"

"Hey, I'm Canadian!" I said.

"Me too."

"Then where's your hats and red coats?"

"Danny! That's offensive. Now don't mind him when he does that, he was only teasing you."

"Ha ha! Right, now what do you need?"

"Let's go inside and get comfy, 'cause it's a long story." I said.

****** Ten minutes later ******

"So was it you holding on to the pilot's legs or the pilot holding on your legs? And were you on the chopper or..."

"I was holding onto the pilot's legs. And this is getting a bit awkward, don't you think?" I said.

"Yes... I can see that these birds are the last ones... I will talk to my superiors."

"Thanks, Danny." Bell said.

"I'm just glad to help out an old friend."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sirens were all that could be heard on the radio, every last police officer not on duty was directed to a single building, sitting at 5000 meters above the target building was a MV-22 Osprey.

"This is SAS squad 024, reporting in, we're stationed close to the target, ready when you are."

"Let's go." Bell said.

"I don't know if this will work, but since you did some research... I'm crazy enough to try it!"

"Thanks again!" Weston shouted.

"Cutting engine... Now."

The aircraft started dropping in freefall and increased speed until it reached terminal velocity.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Johnson shouted.

"WELL DON'T! I DON'T WANT YOUR PUKE FLOATING AROUND IN HERE!" Weston shouted.

"THAT DID NOT HELP!"

"THREE THOUSAND METERS! RESTARTING ENGINE! GET OUT NOW!"

The rear door opened as the engine started, the propeller chopped the air, making a loud whooshing sound. The team jumped out, and waited for the perfect moment. The clouds cleared, revealing a large portion of London.

"THREE! TWO! ONE! DEPLOY CHUTES!" Sierra shouted and pulled the line attached to his bag, setting off a small chute, which pulled a much larger one.

In a few seconds, they were a meter above the roof of an old brick apartment, the team cut their chutes and landed on their feet. Weston kicked down the door to the stairs, and followed the team inside. Surprisingly, there was no resistance inside... There was no one at all. Sierra looked at the screen of his goggles.

"Try those three rooms on the right." Sierra said and pointed to rooms 806, 807, and 808. "Weston, Bell, secure the floor."

Doc and Johnson watched as Uzzi sniffed each building. Uzzi started growling at 806 and Johnson used the stock of his ACR to destroy the lock. The door swung open and two shots were fired. Johnson stood in shock, clutching his gut where blood was gushing through his vest. He staggered and fell on his knees. Doc's face changed from shock to rage and he raised his P90 to eye level and stopped just before his finger met the trigger. A hooded man was holding a smoking five-seven at a familiar blue macaw's head.

"Don't f****** move!"

Doc gritted his teeth. He wanted to take revenge for Johnson, who was dragged away by Weston. But if he did... The world would find out the results of a bird being shot in the head at point blank range.

"Doc, don't worry about me... Kill this low life and keep Jewel safe... Shoot him." Blu squawked.

Even though Doc didn't understand Blu's squawking, he could see exactly what Blu wanted him to do, and he wanted to, badly. But Blu was his friend, he couldn't let him get killed.

"Shut up, bird! And put down that gun, medic!" The poacher shouted at Doc.

Sierra watched Doc as he tried to stop Johnson's bleeding.

'Remember our training, Doc.' Sierra thought.

"Doc... Season 1, episode 17. Stare him down." Weston whispered into his cross-comm.

"Alright, don't do anything you'll regret-"

"I know what you're trying to do! You'll make me drop the bird and splatter my brains on the wall, forget it and put down the gun!"

"Trust me, I won't do that last part, and it's you that needs to put down your gun, you're already in this much trouble, and I don't think you'll want to spend the rest of your life in military prison."

"And what's going to change if I give myself up? People will take me as a fool, a coward-"

"A man who made a choice for himself. You're not working alone, we have your partner, we know who you are. Micheal Moreno, you started off as a begging child on the outskirts of Bogota, you were hired as a poacher because of your skills as a thief."

"... I had a dark past... It was my only way out! I had no choice!"

"But now you do. Put down the gun."

Micheal thought hard.

"No... I don't." Micheal said and pointed the five-seven to his own head. "My life was nothing from the beginning... I have nothing to live for."

Doc looked at the ground. He couldn't come up with an argument. 'Live life to the fullest' was not going to stop Micheal. Micheal closed his eyes.

'I failed.' Doc thought.

A gunshot was heard. Doc looked up. He didn't see any brains or blood on the wall, but Micheal still had his eyes shut tight.

"Sorry for that, but the police wants him." Danny's voice rang through the radios.

Suddenly, automatic weapons were heard firing outside.

"Danny! What the hell's going on?!" Bell asked.

"WE GOT GUYS WITH AK'S OUT HERE! WE NEED SUPPORT! AHH!"

"DANNY!" Weston shouted.

"I'm all right... I had my vest. We got a terrorfest over here! Get some riot police to protect the Olympic stadium now!"


	9. Chapter 9 Need a ride?

Chapter 9 Need a ride?

"Doc, get Johnson and Moreno downstairs, meet us at the bottom." Sierra said. "Bell, Weston, hook up."

The three pulled ropes out of their vests and hooked carabiners to a pipe and released their brakes to rappel halfway down, a man with an AKM fired a salvo at Bell, which caused Sierra and Weston to hip-fire back at the man, killing him with a shot to the chest. About ten meters above the ground, the three engaged their brakes to slow down and landed on solid ground. It was chaos. Civilians screamed and ran as men with Kalashnikovs fired at them, the squad of SAS soldiers with MP5's, along with British police officers wielding G17's and MP5's losing the battle to an army of terrorists with AK's.

"I'm here! Anyone hurt?" Doc asked.

"Not yet, but someone probably will be!" Sierra shouted. "How's Johnson?"

"I managed to stop the bleeding, but he needs medical attention."

"We'll pull out ASAP, but It's not possible right now." Danny said.

"These guys mean business, don't they?" Weston said, while firing at a group of men with his SCAR-L.

The terrorists closed in on the group of policemen and soldiers, just about all of the police officers had run out of ammo, and are either cowering or still standing their ground with their batons, beating anyone who was suicidal enough to charge into the barricade of cars.

"DAMMIT! WHERE IS THAT SUPPORT?!" Danny shouted, hearing the click from his L85.

Suddenly, a man wearing a belt of C-4 charged at the group.

"Oh s***!" Bell shouted, and grabbed Danny by the arm and ran.

Everyone else followed, but no one was quick enough to escape the blast.

"AAH!" Danny shouted.

"Danny!" Bell shouted and limped over to Danny's side. He had a shrapnel embedded in his abdomen.

Weston helped Sierra up, who had a bloody face from a cut to the cheek. They also moved over to Danny. Doc checked everyone else to find out the casualties, but he used a AK he found on the ground for support as he suffered a shrapnel to the calf. Blu was safe as he was behind Doc.

"Bell... Behind you!" Danny wheezed.

Bell swung his body around, and saw a man in a white shirt charge at him with a bayonet. Bell dodged the thrust and seized the gun, killing the terrorist with a round from his M9. Sierra was also in close quarters combat, a man in a black hoodie tried to club him with the stock of his rifle. Sierra blocked with his knife, which pierced through the stock. He then kicked the attacker in the groin and clubbed the man in the forehead with his own gun, with the knife speared through it. Pink brain matter splattered the ground where the terrorist had been decapitated. Sierra rushed back to Danny to see that he was blacking out. Weston and Bell were holding their positions, and they would continue to do so until their last breath.

"Danny, stay with me! Don't die on me, soldier!" Sierra shouted.

Sierra reached for his vest and took his canteen, opened it and poured it's contents onto the wound.

"Captain! Catch!" Doc shouted and threw Sierra a roll of bandage.

Sierra wrapped the sterile cloth loosely around the wound, before grabbing his G18 and filled a terrorist with lead. It wasn't over yet, more came, and in a few seconds later what was left of Azure, SAS and police were held under gunpoint by the terrorists.

"You fought well, child." A man in a robe said.

Sierra narrowed his eyes at him, although the man could not see his expression, he could sense it. The man gave a look to one of the men with AK's. A man wearing the same robe walked over to Sierra, and used his stock to whack Sierra in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Weston gritted his teeth. Nobody had their hands raised, including Micheal. They did not admit defeat, but openly retaliating was not a good idea.

"But you are our enemies, and we do not take prisoners."

"Oh, really? What about all those soldiers taken in Afghanistan? What are they? Slaves?" Sierra said defiantly.

The henchman was about to whack Sierra again, but was stopped by the master.

"Do not waste time with them. Spill their blood."

Every one of the terrorists raised their weapons.

'I guess this is it. It's over. Oh well, I guess I'll be leaving this place in a bodybag. I've failed my team.' Sierra thought.

"Five!"

"*Sigh* Mom, dad, if this broadcast gets through, I want you to know how grateful I am that you took me in... And tell Cathy and Rick that I love them like my own sister and brother. I'm sorry I won't be back for your birthday, mom." Weston whispered into his microphone.

"Four!"

"Bye, Beth, take care of the kids." Bell whispered.

"Three!"

'At least you guys have family.' Doc thought. He grabbed Blu by the talon, who was hanging onto him. "Blu. Go. You have Jewel, you have a whole life in front of you."

"Two!"

Silence. Blu was holding onto Doc for dear life. A final tug from Doc got Blu off.

"One!"

A car horn broke the silence, engines revved as three vehicles ploughed through the terrorists.

"Need a ride?" A familiar voice called out.


End file.
